I did it! I solved the case of my wonky yarn cakes! I imagine others may have the same issue with their ball winders, so I thought I would put together a post on how to fix your yarn ball winder. You can see from the before-and-after images below that something was definitely off!
If your yarn winder isn’t winding correctly, keeps slipping, or is making crooked or uneven yarn cakes, the gears inside the winder may have slipped out of alignment. Luckily, this was a quick fix once I figured out what was causing the problem.
The particular brand I purchased is the Knit Picks Yarn Ball Winder, but I imagine many of them are built the same way. This ball winder is a little workhorse for me and, for the most part, does a great job winding yarn into nice little cakes. The first time I noticed the cakes not winding properly, I called Knit Picks, and they were very good about sending me a new ball winder. But then when it started happening again, I figured it must be something in the internal mechanism that needed adjustment, so I took the winder apart to see.
Keep reading to see how to fix your yarn ball winder.
Why Is My Yarn Winder Not Winding Correctly?
In my case, the problem was caused by the larger plastic gear slipping out of position and sitting on top of the smaller gear instead of meshing with it. Once I repositioned the gears so the teeth fit together properly, the winder worked normally again.
How to Fix Your Yarn Ball Winder
To fix your broken ball winder, you will first need to twist off the cone-shaped bobbin from the main base of the winder.
Next, use a Phillips-head tool to remove the screw from the plate beneath where the bobbin was removed, then remove the plate and set it aside.
Ahhh … here was the issue! You see how in the photo below the larger plastic gear is sitting on top of the small gear? This is why the winder wasn’t winding properly. The gears should mesh so that the teeth fit together properly.
To fix this, gently push the larger gear back away from the smaller one and down until the teeth mesh. It should now look like this.
Now screw the top plate back on and replace the bobbin. All that is left is trying it out. Grab a hank or skein of yarn and wind it up. Perfect!
Have you had this problem? I would love to know if this helped fix it. Let me know in the comments below.
Now that you have your yarn cakes made, read my clever yarn hack for keeping them wound neatly and from turning into a tangled mess while in use or in storage!
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Just wanted to drop by and say this saved my winder! I was about to toss it out the window in frustration with my lopsided tangly cakes. I lost so much yarn with my broken winder. 🙁
Oh my gosh, my kitten knocked over my ball winder and it was all screwy! This worked perfectly!!!! Thanks so much!
OMG, I’m so thankful I found this! I got it 3 days ago and was so not wanting to send it back. Thank you for posting this!
Wife was about to throw some yarn out! With your help, I was able to fix it, thanks!!
Thank you so much. I hooked up my winder this morning and was disgusted with the balls I was getting. Couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Googled troubleshooting and found your page. Your explanation was very simple and now I have beautiful balls. Thank you again
I have an older version, with the handle on it (I lost/never used the table mount.) I figure I’ve had it around 8 years? Lately it wasn’t wrapping the first few twists correctly, so I opened it up and saw the teeth didn’t meet all the way anymore. (The larger gear kept falling below the smaller one, and the teeth didn’t meet tightly.)
To fix it, I wrapped a small rubber band below the gear to space/lift the gear to the right level for the teeth to fit. I have no receipt or record from when I originally purchased it from kp, so I just keep fixing it instead of replacing it. $20 over 8 years is pretty good value in my opinion. Im pretty sure i can keep it going longer provided the plastic stays good.
Thank you! Mine was so messed up I had to take the screw off the bottom as well and completely reposition it. From all the comments, it seems to be a design flaw!
Bless you! I was about to order a new one and was so upset, then I found this! It only took a few minutes to fix and it’s working like normal again. I hope you’re on Ravelry with this info, I’m sure there are lots of people who would benefit!
Thank you sooooooo much!!!!! I was so sad last night when I realized my ball winder was being weird. I tried taking it apart and had no idea what I was looking at so when I found your site I was so thankful. I fixed it in just a few minutes thanks to you. I was so afraid I was going to have to deal with trying to see if I could get a replacement. Thank you again!!
Thank you so much for writing this. I was heartbroken when my knit pick yarn winder was acting up. I was about to jump the gun and buy an expensive yarn winder which I do not really want to do. You save me from my woes. I am glad I found your article. I am back to getting perfect cake yarns. Again, a million thanks.
Thank you so much for this! I thought I was gonna cry when I found out my yarn winder was dead! Worked perfectly! 🙂